Brown Capital Management LLC Sells 2,708 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Brown Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 55.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,180 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,708 shares during the period. Brown Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Aspire Growth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the first quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,476,894.45. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 41,440 shares of company stock valued at $26,233,492 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0%

META stock opened at $650.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $668.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $707.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 target price (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $821.63.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.